05ers celebrate top-flight survival with win on the road

Things were unnecessarily shaky for the 05ers in the closing stages away to St. Pauli after a largely emphatic display. They did however hold on for three points, with Philipp Tietz and Phillipp Mwene netting for the away side ahead of the break before further chances came and went after half time. Substitute Abdoulie Ceesay made things interesting again soon before full-time, when FSV were able to celebrate an impressive second half of the campaign and Bundesliga football yet again next term.

The Mainz coaching staff opted to make a singular change to the team that began the spectacular game against Bayern München, giving Kacper Potulski the nod over Dominik Kohr in Hamburg.

Great goals and and a grip on proceedings

The atmosphere inside the Millerntor promised that a heated 90 minutes would be in store. The match started in such vein, with the hosts well aware of what an early goal of their own could achieve. Although the Hamburg-based side looked reasonably dangerous from two set-pieces in the opening minutes, it was down the other end where the opening goal arrived. From Mainz’s perspective, the move that led to the goal was straight out of the club’s playbook. Kaishu Sano turned the ball over deep in opposition territory before, via the quick-thinking Sheraldo Becker, the ball found its way to Phillip Tietz. The centre forward struck hit shot from the edge of the box first-time, leaving Nikola Vasilj helpless (6’). The initial pressure from the northerners dissipated, and the shock was clearly visible on the faces of the relegation-battling home team. Contrastingly, FSV were going about things with experience and patience, taking few risks while making attacking inroads at the right moments. This was again evident on the quarter-hour mark, when Nadiem Amiri, set up by Paul Nebel, failed to score with a deflected shot from 14 yards (16’).

The course of the first half played into the hands of the away side, with the hosts spurning chances they could not afford to miss. The 05ers bided their time before again looking dangerous in front of the St. Pauli goal. Amiri twice had attempts blocked with a defensive leg then able to deny Tietz on the rebound. After Stefan Posch then headed straight at Vasilj when latching onto the end of an Amiri corner, Mwene did add the second goal five minutes later with his opening goal of the season. Once again, the build-up was something to behold: a long ball from Batz reached Tietz, who played in Silvan Widmer down the right. He drove to as far as the by-line before cutting back into the centre for the onrushing Austrian, who took the ball in his stride to slot home. Becker had covered impressive ground to draw defenders away and free up the space in the middle. Almost every statistic supported the Mainz half-time lead being a deserved one, with more shots on target (three to nil), more possession, a higher successful pass rate, and more ground covered to their name than the opposition.

05ers miss the chance to kill the game

It was clear that the hosts would need to respond after the restart to get back into the game. Two substitutions were intended to help them do just that. Connor Metcalfe replaced Danel Sinani, whilst Adam Dzwigala came on for Lars Ritzka. Mainz, on the other hand, emerged from the tunnel unchanged and were much closer to sealing the win in the early stages of the second half than their opponents were to halving the arrears. Amiri first tried his luck from a tight angle but was denied by Vasilj, with Tietz again involved in the build-up. Four minutes later, Amiri again turned provider. The Germany international’s cross found Becker at the far post, whose header Vasilj was able to parry before Dzwigala blocked Mwene’s follow-up shot (52’). St. Pauli’s continued to create only half-chances at the other end and Metcalfe’s strike in the 63rd minute flew well over the Mainz goal. It was a completely different story for FSV, who were far more determined and should have extended their lead long before. A Tietz header hit the crossbar, falling to Mwene’s feet and his powerful shot from 10 yards was again blocked.

In the 72nd minute, Mainz played their first card, bringing Armindo Sieb on for Becker. Two minutes later, however, FSV were left straggling. Posch was beaten in a footrace by substitute Ceesay, who then overcame Potulski and charged towards Batz one-on-one; instead of shooting, though, the attacker opted to square for Martijn KaarsHis shot at goal was well blocked by Mwene (74’). With that, the hosts’ only real chance of the match so far had come and gone. Mainz immediately responded with a double substitution, bringing on Anthony Caci and Dominik Kohr for Widmer and the cramp-stricken Potulski. As not much else happened, the second double substitution six minutes from time was the next notable moment of the match. The outstanding duo of Amiri and Tietz were given a breather, while Nelson Weiper and Lennard Maloney were tasked with seeing out the win. Then, out of the Mainz were made to fret once more, three minutes before the end of regulation time. Kaars played a through pass for Ceesay, who shot on the half-volley and, with a stroke of good fortune, was able to squeeze the ball past Batz for 2-1 (87’). Mwene almost provided the perfect response, but the wing-back’s shot from 20 yards whizzed past the right-hand post in the 90th minute. Batz then had to be on hand during the five minutes of added time to dispel an effort from Joel Chima Fujita.

The full-time whistle shortly sounded, marking confirmation of FSV’s survival in the Bundesliga this term and taking the club up to 37 points. Union Berlin visit Mainz next weekend before the 05ers round out the season away to 1. FC Heidenheim.